The relative movement of adjacent tectonic plates can be categorized as either a divergent, convergent or transform boundary. In this activity, students will create a storyboard to illustrate the different types of interactions between tectonic plates. Students should be encouraged to provide examples of each type of interaction.
At a divergent boundary, the plates move apart from each other. This is also know as a constructive boundary because new lithosphere is made. At a convergent boundary, the plates move closer together. When the boundary is between a continental plate and oceanic plate or between two oceanic plates, the denser oceanic plate will travel underneath the less dense plate. This is called subduction. At a transform plate boundary, the plates don’t move closer together or further away, but move past each other.
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Student Instructions
Create a storyboard that shows the different types of interactions that can occur when two tectonic plates meet.